The poor weather in the south of England over the Bank Holiday weekend has hit the pub sector hard, according to trade body the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR).

The ALMR, which has approximately 100 members operating 15,000 outlets, is conducting a concerted campaign against loss-leader discounting on alcohol by supermarkets.

It said that price competition in tandem with the poor weather had led to a difficult weekend.

An ALMR spokeswoman linked the bad weather with supermarket discounting as a reason for pubs finding sales hard to come by.

“The terrible weather across much of the country hit our sector hard this weekend,” she said. “This situation was not helped by the ever-irresponsible supermarkets once again taking the opportunity to sell alcohol at below-cost.  Such a climate makes it very hard for our already pressed pubs to compete.”

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By Christopher Walton

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